‘Certainty, 360 degree plan is the need of the hour on BS VI norms’

Bengaluru, May 26 (IANS) The Indian automobile industry needs certainty and a “360 degree plan” from the government with respect to transitioning to Bharat Stage VI emission norms, said a top auto industry executive on Thursday.

“What we need as manufacturers is a very clear strategy to follow. So what is the strategy? If you (government) say BS VI, we will invest in BS VI but then you should not come back,” said Renault India CEO Sumit Sawhney on the sidelines of an event here.

On select diesel vehicles ban in some states, he said: “There is an uncertainty. We require a clear 360 degree approach. We cannot have sporadic approach. We are working very closely with government.”

Currently BS IV fuel is being used in major Indian cities while the rest of the country runs on BS III fuel.

The petroleum and natural gas ministry fixed a 2017 deadline for all vehicles to comply with BS IV norms and a 2020 timeline to rollout BS VI norms, leapfrogging over BS V.

According to Sawhney, a BS IV compliant vehicle can run on BS III fuel but not a BS VI norms compliant vehicle, as it requires cleaning and various other processes of fuel pumps, their pipelines and a host of other issues.

“By 2019, the government will have to provide Euro VI fuel, so that we can run Euro VI cars,” he said.

“This challenge was not there with BS IV. It requires a lot of readiness apart from the investment to be done by the government,” he said.

Sawhney said Renault possesses Euro VI technology globally which can be easily transferred to its Indian operations. However, he did not reveal its plans as of now.

“At this point of time we are just watching the movement. We are clearly seeing what is happening. So at this stage we have not reviewed our investments. But we need clarity to look forward to,” he said.

He denied that the diesel vehicle ban in some states is affecting Renault’s sales, claiming the company has a market share of 4.4 percent at the fifth spot and with plans afoot to reach a five percent market share as early as 2016.